INITIAL IDEAS

On the 13th of January 2025, Keir Starmer gave a speech in which he proposed a change to the copyright laws regarding AI usage. This speech, along with a lifetime love of dystopia is what sparked my ideas for my film.

On the 5th of February 2025, I asked ChatGPT the question 'Can the use of AI in art ever be ethical?'. This was part of it's response:

'Artist Displacement: There is concern about the potential for AI to replace human artists, particularly in industries like design, illustration, and even fine art. If AI can produce high-quality art at a faster rate and lower cost, it might devalue human-created works and put artists out of work.'

I asked it to follow up - 'Tell me more about artist displacement.' Here is how it concluded:

'The fear of artist displacement comes from the growing accessibility and capabilities of AI tools that can automate artistic production. However, it’s important to recognize that AI, when used ethically and thoughtfully, could be seen as a collaborator rather than a competitor. The real challenge lies in ensuring that artists can adapt, find their unique voice in an increasingly AI-driven world, and that fair compensation and ownership rights are respected. Instead of replacing artists, AI should ideally complement and amplify human creativity.'

To me, this was worrying. Perhaps it should have been expected for an AI system to be in favour of the use of AI in art, but this, in combination with changing copyright laws concerned me. 

So why ask ChatGPT? It goes against all of my morals, but I think it allows me to see something of the future. No computer system can ever be without bias, and what I saw from asking ChatGPT a simple question was a worrying future. It seems to believe that it is up to humans to 'adapt' rather than for us to prevent the spread of AI. Perhaps I am being over the top, worrying about something that will probably never happen. But this was the basis of my dystopia.

What particularly worried me was the sentence in the conclusion saying that human artists will need to 'adapt'. If artists are needing to 'adapt' to survive, what happens to the ones who can't? Realistically, they get a new job. But from the perspective of a dystopian film, what then?

I fundamentally believe that AI has no place in art, and that any use of AI to create 'art' is inherently wrong. I also believe that removing copyright from thousands of books, paintings, and music will have devastating impacts, not only on the artists that are being stolen from, but also on our cultural future. Since 2017, arts funding has been cut by 17% in the UK (30% in Wales). There is a very real threat to the future of art in the UK. It doesn't all come down to the threat of AI, but this decision seems to me to be another step in harming the cultural life of the UK.

However, I also began to question my own mindset. I have always described myself as a Luddite - I am not very technically proficient - and it made me wonder, is there more to this description than I think? Are the arts a dying industry? Will I simply be replaced like the Luddites were? Am I the one who's out of touch with the future? Questions that would once have seemed ridiculous now becoming a very possible reality. That is what dystopia is.